Besotted
by mama4dukes
Summary: Love can be found in the most unusual places—a zombie apocalypse certainly counts as one. Join Caius Volturi as he conquers zombies and falls in love with the gun-wielding girl of his dreams.
1. Chapter 1

**This story was written for FAGE Six Pack.**

**Title: Besotted**

**Written for: White Wolf Legend**

**Written by: mama4dukes**

**Prompt Used: The world is on the verge of destruction, your couple is part of the team who help to save it.**

**Summary: Love can be found in the most unusual places—a zombie apocalypse certainly counts as one. Join Caius Volturi as he conquers zombies and falls in love with the gun-wielding girl of his dreams.**

**Special thank you to: LosT-in-Twific for the beautiful banner and for the new friendship! :)**

**Beta'd by IzzyBffAddict92-my sister from another mother.**

**This story is AU/OOC.**

**Rated: M for coarse language**

**All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Prologue**

"You missed one." Jane Volturi stared directly at the newborn while smiling sinisterly at the Cullens.

Edward placed the newborn behind him for safety. His face took on a stunned expression as he turned to her. They stared into each other's eyes as if there were no others around.

That's when Bella knew it was over between them. There was no more Bella and Edward. It would be Edward and the scrawny looking vampire with the greasy hair. She would be alone; or would she? That kiss she'd shared with Jacob had made her think. It had certainly been better than any of Edward's cold, hard kisses. Althought she still felt that Jacob was more like her brother, that kiss had made her think of possibilities. That maybe Edward wasn't the only thing out there; that...

Jane looked between the scrawny vampire and Bella, then to Edward "Well, it appears you have a choice to make. Is it going to be Isabella or your mate?" Her voice was laced with poison.

It took Edward a mere second to say to Bella, "I'm sorry." In all honesty, he didn't look sorry at all. He leaned down to his mate and whispered something. Bella couldn't hear him, but everyone else did.

"No!" Esme screamed. "Carlisle, do something!"

"It's Edward's decision."

Jane's ecstatic cackle rent the air. "Well, it was nice knowing you, Isabella. Have a nice death."

With that final statement, she disappeared through the woods; her brother Alex, the Volturi strongarm Felix, and the tracker Demetri followed in her wake. The latter two turned just in time to witness Edward's mate knocking down Isabella Swan and sinking her teeth into her wrist. They shook their heads, completely stunned that Edward Cullen could be so callous as to sacrifice someone who had loved him so purely. Even they weren't that without feeling. They ran to catch up with Jane and Alex, anxious to get away from these atrocious vampires.

As the Volturi disappeared, sheer chaos broke out amongst the Cullens. Esme took Edward's mate and flung her as far as she could. A furious Edward punched Esme in the nose. Alice stepped in to defend her and shoved Edward, giving Esme time to help Isabella. Jasper, meanwhile, kept Edward's newborn restrained with his gift. Carlisle grabbed his wife, shook her, and yelled, "I told you that the decision was Edward's!"

"It's wrong, Carlisle! After what she's been through, it's..." Esme was stopped mid-speech as Carlisle shapped her on her cheek. She fell to the ground.

"You will obey my command, Esme!"

She had vowed never to be abused at the hands of a man again, this included Carlisle. This time, she stood up and fought back. All around, chaos ensued. Alice was still fighting Edward, Jasper had his attention focused on the newborn waif, and Rosalie jumped into the fray to assist Esme. Emmett took the opportunity to check on Bella who was screaming in agony. He sunk his teeth into her jugular and injected his venom, continuing on to her wrists.

With the newborn incapacitated, Jasper came to check on Bella. "Not enough venom," he informed Emmett and tore off her clothes. He bit into her arteries to inject his venom—behind her knee caps, on her ankles, and finally over her heart. He kissed her on the forehead before running to assist Alice with Edward.

Emmett took his shirt off, placed it on Bella, cradling her lovingly as a brother would.

"Go, Esme!" Rosalie urged as Emmett gingerly placed his changing sister into her arms. He kissed her on the cheek. "I love you, Little Bear." He looked up at Esme. "Run! Tell her, tell her that we love her! We'll find you!"

With that, Esme ran as fast and as far away as she could from the only life she'd ever known as a vampire, wondering how in hell she and Isabella were going to survive this mess, but determined to make things work.


	2. Chapter 2

**This story is AU/OOC**

**Rated: M for coarse language**

**All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Chapter One**

**Five years later...**

Caius Volturi stared at the remains of his castle. Gone were Aro and Marcus—they had been amongst the first to die. Most of the guard were gone too. Chelsea, Alex, Jane...Jane... Ha! Jane was gone and Caius had witnessed her fall. The annoying bitch was gone. Yes! Yes! Yes! Add to the pile of the deceased—Athenadora, his irritating companion, and he was in paradise. Caius felt like singing, but first he had to lock all of the castle doors and incinerate all of the dead—at the very least, he should give them each a proper cremation. Besides, they were stinking up the place. He scoured the castle, piled up the bodies and bid them each an adieu as he flung them into the the incinerator while singing, _"Ding dong the witch is dead!"_

"So fucking awesome!" he whooped as he realized that he was now alone. His dick got hard thinking about the paradise he was in. Oh shit. His dick. Damn it! Now, how the hell was he supposed to get off?

He sat on his throne pondering the situation. A good portion of the human population of Europe had been decimated by some seriously, creepy creatures who hungered for brains and entrails. Somehow, a few managed to get into the castle because Gianna decided that the castle needed fresh air and opened a few ground floor windows. She was the first to be devoured. By the time they'd discovered that their human receptionist was dead, a whole mess of them had swarmed into the castle. Aro and Marcus were the first to be affected by them, like idiots, they fed from the monsters and instantly became like them. More and more of the creatures accumulated as each one of the guards turned into the same ghastly, slow yet powerful beasts with an appetite for brains and entrails. Most of the gifted guards tried to use their gifts on them to no avail and finally decided to just drain the creatures thereby sealing their fate, while over half of the guards took the opportunity to run away like cowards—especially after the bonds that Chelsea had secured shattered after her death. Caius, quite ingeniously in his opinion, started ripping heads off; that stopped them cold. He wondered why it didn't occur to the others to do the same. For God's sake, if they were newborn vampires, they would have gone straight for their heads. Why not the same for these...these...whatever the hell they were? They were all damned idiots in his opinion. It didn't take him long to decapitate them all. Maybe an hour or so. He may have taken out Athenadora in the process...it was an error in the heat of the moment, of course. His chuckle echoed through the throne room.

"Hello? Hello? Is anyone still alive?"

It was Demetri. Caius had forgotten that he, Felix, and Heidi had been sent on a mission by Aro. Maria had been riling things up again—not in Texas and Mexico, but in Brazil. In all honesty, when the whole picture was considered, a vampire war in South America was nothing compared to the crap going on in Europe. Aro was stupid to have ignored the current predicament with these creatures. Caius had urged him to look into the situation, but his suggestion was dismissed with a wave of his hand. The shithead won't be waving his pasty hand anymore now, will he?

"I'm in here!" Caius called back, thanking God that it was Demetri because he, at least, was easy to have around. So were Felix and Heidi for that matter.

"Master, what has happened? Where is..."

He held his hand up to stop him. "Don't call me Master. I really don't want to be anyone's master and I never wanted to be. That was Aro's dream held together by Chelsea's bond-making gift. Um, where are Felix and Heidi?"

"They are currently indisposed, Sir."

"Now?"

"Yes, now."

"Indisposed doing what?"

"Shagging sir. Mates tend to shag and they were unable to do so during this mission."

Caius shrugged his shoulders. "At least someone's getting some. I'm afraid there are no women left and Felix is very possessive about his mate. The selfish git."

"What do you mean there are no women left?" Demetri looked around desperately, then honed into his gift, quickly discovering that many of the essences had died off. "Where is everyone?"

"Ah, they've either been annihilated or they've absoconded."

"Even the slutty ones?"

"Yes, even the slutty ones."

"How did this happen?" Demetri couldn't picture life in the castle without the slutty ones.

"An odd thing happened while you were gone, you see. Our castle was inundated by those creepy creatures that have decimated Italy. "

"You mean zombies?"

"Is that what they're calling them?"

"Obviously, Master..."

"Don't call me Master! I don't like it!"

"Sorry, erm...Caius."

"That's better. Now, you were saying?"

"About the creatures, Caius—they obviously are zombies judging by their slow moving gait, the fact that they are reanimated corpses hungering for brains and entrails."

"Demetri, we are reanimated corpses."

"Yes, but we have functioning brains. They do not—and we don't fancy human organs; just their blood."

"Very true, but I thought zombies only existed in movies."

"Master, humans believe we only exist in movies," Demetri reminded Caius.

"Not for much longer unless we do something about it," a strange voice replied from the hallway.

A blond, male vampire and a very buxom, bouncy, big-titted blonde female stripper...no vampire...stripper...no definitely a vampire entered the throne room. Caius and Demetri immediately donned smiles on their faces to welcome her. They had realized that there were no female vampires for them to shag.

She held her hand up. "Uh-uh-uh! No...no...he is my mate. You can look, but you can't touch."

"You know, I really am sick and tired of the fact that all of the hot females are mated!"

"What happened to Athenadora?" Demetri asked.

"Ah, I might have mistaken her for one of those zombie things and decapitated her," Caius replied nonchalantly.

"How was it even possible for you to mistake a live vampire for a zombie?"

"It was chaos in here and...uh...one body looked like another. It was ghastly easy to remove her head. After that, I tossed her into the pile of bodies and I might have forgotten to sift through them." Caius decided a change of subject was in order when everyone was staring at him in horror. Was killing a wife 'accidentally' really so bad? She was seriously neurotic and a shrew to boot. Caius was positive that he did the world a favor by getting rid of her—not to mention himself. He turned to the newly arrived vampire couple. "Who are you?"

"I'm Peter Whitlock and this is my mate Charlotte."

"And what brings you to Volterra?"

The male vampire tapped the side of his head. "Shit happens or happened in this case. Do you know who Carlisle Cullen is?"

"Of course I know the twat! Don't tell me you're with him?"

"Hey! Do I look like the type to associate with that kind of pond scum? Have some respect, dude!" Peter poked Caius's chest with his finger.

"You're the one who brought his name up."

"Of course I did. I have a feeling that he's behind all of this."

"What do you mean when you say that Carlisle Cullen is behind all of this?" Caius and Demetri both asked suspiciously.

"Don't you guys watch TV?"

"Sure, we watch Sex TV, Bouncing Bubbies Network, The XXX Channel..."

"No, not that kind of TV—I'm talking about the news!"

"Why the hell would we watch the news?"

"Yeah, there are no naked women on the news," Demetri agreed.

"You watch the news for information, you dumb asses. Particularly, when there's a major crisis going on."

"I'll have you know that we have informants keeping us abreast of all crises in the vampire world."

"Well, where the hell are your informants."

"Hmm...I have no idea actually."

"That's cause they were probably killed by the zombies."

Just then, Felix and Heidi walked into the throne room looking completely sated. "Master Caius, did Demetri apprise you of the zombie situation?"

"Don't call me master. I don't want to be master. I never wanted to be master. I don't believe in this peerage bullshit."

"Well neither do we, but you're wearing the robe so you have to be him. Besides, I wouldn't give up your power and position that easily—you're going to need it in order to subdue Carlisle Cullen," Peter told him.

"I don't want to subdue Carlisle Cullen. I don't even want to see the creep."

"Oh, trust me—you do. Where's your TV? We need to turn on the news."

"Follow me," Caius prompted as he led everyone to the castle's media room.


	3. Chapter 3

**This story is AU/OOC**

**Rated: M for coarse language**

**All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Chapter Two**

"Okay, how much more do we need for rent?" Bella asked Esme.

"Four hundred thirty-eight dollars and thirteen cents."

"And how many days do we have?"

"Six."

Bella sunk to the floor. "Oh, no. How are we going to come up with that kind of cash?" They were scrambling to come up with rent again. They had nothing, absolutely nothing except for their apartment—not even a TV. They each had a meager selection of clothes that they purchased at thrift stores and their tiny apartment was furnished with furniture that had been thrown out on the curb. Even their lamps and laundry baskets were picked up curbside. It was a rough existence, but so far, they were surviving.

"We'll have to go job hunting again. We can do it."

"Esme, it's not as easy as you think. We keep getting fired."

"Well, I'm sorry, the last job was too...that man kept watching us."

"He was our supervisor, Esme. It was his job to watch us."

"But he was creepy. He had greasy hair and beady eyes."

"He can't help how he was born!"

"He was sweaty, too. He looked like death."

"Esme, we're dead."

"Yeah, but we don't look like death. We're actually quite perky looking."

"You're right, we are perky."

Esme sat down and whimpered. "I'm really bad at this 'modern working woman' thing, aren't I?"

Bella sat down and pulled the older vampire close to comfort her. She would do anything not to see Esme unhappy. The woman, who was like a sister to her, sacrificed everything just so she could stay alive. For all intents and purposes, Bella should be dead—as in drained of all her blood and buried under the earth dead; not walking, talking, and struggling to make a living dead. Edward, in his cowardice, had sent his newly acquired mate to kill Bella immediately following the war with Victoria's newborns. Esme had saved her and taken her away to a safe place because Carlisle's solidarity was clearly with Edward. Emmett, Rosalie, Jasper, and Alice had sided with Esme and had remained to subdue Carlisle, Edward, and his newborn mate; they were supposed to find Bella and Esme, but they hadn't heard a peep from them since that day. They feared that their friends were dead.

Bella put a reassuring smile on her face. "You don't suck at the 'modern working woman' thing, you just haven't found the right job yet. Now come on, let's get dressed and hit the pavement. If worse comes to worst, we will just go to the 'work today, paid today' place and suck it up. We have six days to come up with rent so let's do this."

"Okay, but can we go to the library first? I want to return the books we borrowed last week."

"Of course we can. I need a new batch of books anyway." Bella sighed as Esme gathered up the library books. She felt guilty; she knew that their poverty was difficult on Esme. She had gone from having millions at her disposal to living paycheck to paycheck without a steady job on hand. Well, at the very least, they had each other and that counted for a great deal; still, it was going to be a long and difficult eternity if their lives continued the way it had been for the past five years.

**XOXO**

An hour later, Bella and Esme walked through the majestic double doors of the library and approached the circulation desk. The silver haired librarian looked up and adjusted her reading glasses. "Are you girls back already? Weren't you girls here a few days ago?"

"It's been five days, Gladys. We're here to return our books."

"Give them to me, I'll check them in." She read the title to each book as she scanned them in. "'_My Undead Earl_?' Now, honey, how is this even possible? Once you're dead, you're dead."

"Oh, but he's not exactly dead. He's a zombie," Esme informed her, nodding her head.

"Sweetheart, you are deep into your own fantasy world, aren't you?"

"Oh, I don't want to love a zombie. It's just that the Earl was turned into a zombie and somewhere, deep in the recesses of his heart, he still knew that he couldn't bite his Countess because he loved her."

"I swear to God—you and your supernatural romances." Bella shook her head.

"It's better than all of those historical romances that you read. Seriously, Bella; how many times can you read about some bad boy rake from the English peerage marrying a common girl?"

"I beg to differ. I don't just read about rakes in the English peerage, I read about Scottish lairds in kilts too."

"Shirtless with rippling muscles?"

"Of course, there is no other way to construct a laird in a kilt. I wish they'd bring back kilts for men, it would be a really refreshing fashion comeback."

The girls giggled and turned to Gladys who advised, "You two girls need to stop dreaming about Mr. Perfect because you're not going to find him no matter how hard you look."

"Are you telling us that we should settle for someone less than perfect?" Bella asked.

"Of course I'm not telling you to settle. You should never settle. What I'm saying is that you shouldn't go looking for perfection unless you yourself are perfect. Now, I don't know about you, but I can say that I'm not perfect—can you?"

"No, I've got a ton of imperfections."

"Exactly, we all do. It's our imperfections that make us who we are. Remember that when you finally get married. Of course, you two girls are still young. You have plenty of time."

"Thanks, Gladys."

"Don't mention it. Oh, I have the new romance releases on hold for you. Do you want them?"

"Later, we're job hunting again," Esme told her.

"Again? Didn't you just start a job yesterday?"

"It didn't work out. The supervisor had beady eyes."

"Well, then, you'll just have to find a supervisor without beady eyes, I suppose. You might get lucky though; the flu has been almost epidemic this year and especially these last few days so you might at least find a few temporary jobs. Even at the library, we're on skeleton crew. There are only two of us here, six others called out sick today." Gladys pointed to the shelf behind her. "I have the books on hold with your names on them right there. Just come in later today."

"We will, thanks, Gladys."

The girls left the library and hit the pavement in search of a job, any job. Well, any job except for those in the sex industry. They drew the line there.

"Hey, Bella?"

"Yeah?"

"Does the city seem kind of different to you today?"

"In what way?"

"I don't know, it seems kind of...quiet." She peered at a sign across the street. "Oh my God! There's a 'Help Wanted' sign up at the dry cleaners. It's fate!"

Bella scratched her head. "Esme?"

"Yeah?"

"Have you noticed that there are a lot more 'Help Wanted' signs up than usual?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Esme, look around you. It's not only the dry cleaners that has a 'Help Wanted' sign up; apparently, the florist, the mini-mart, and the sports bar also have openings. Just last week, there were hardly any jobs in the city. Do you think Gladys was right? Do you think it's the flu?"

"It could be, the last great flu pandemic was in 1918—people would get sick in the morning and die by nightfall. I remember it well," Esme reminisced. "Fortunately, I was as healthy as an ox so I didn't even get the sniffles."

"You mean, the one that Edward could have died from?"

"Yeah, too bad Carlisle changed him, huh?"

"You're not kidding." The girls giggled together as they crossed the street. They stepped into the dry cleaners, Esme called out, "Hello?" No answer. "Hello?"

"Weird. The TV is on. Maybe the owner is just out back or something?"

"Maybe. We'll just wait here I guess." Esme sniffed the air and crinkled her nose. "On second thought, let's not. It kind of stinks in here."

"Yeah, I totally agree." The girls quickly left the dry cleaners and walked into the flower shop next door, but soon rushed back out. "Hey, Esme? Aren't flower shops supposed to smell floral?"

"Yes."

"Well, how come that one didn't smell very nice and where the heck was the florist?"

"I have no idea. Let's just go to the sports bar and see if there are any waitressing jobs."

The girls loped off to the sports bar wondering how in heck the dry cleaner and the florist could leave their businesses unattended. Sheesh, they should at least lock their doors if they were going to leave for extended periods of time. The double doors to the sports bar were wide open, they stepped inside and looked around. There were people scattered around the bar and a few in booths. All of them seemed asleep. In fact, the bartender was hunched over on one of the beer taps with her head down.

"Ooh, I think Gladys was right about the flu. I mean, shouldn't a sports bar be more...alive?" Esme asked. "These humans look sick."

Bella sniffed the air and turned to her friend with a terrified expression on her face. "I think they're dead. It smells like rotting flesh in here and...and...I don't hear any heartbeats."

Without saying another word, the girls left the bar. As soon as they got outside, they screamed, "Oh my God!"

"There's something weird going on. We need either a newspaper, a TV, or a laptop...anything really so we can catch up on the news."

"There was a TV on at the dry cleaners. What if we switched the channel to the news?"

"Good idea."

They walked a few steps to the dry cleaners and walked inside, thankful that breathing was unnecessary for vampires because the stench was horrific. Bella quickly spotted the remote control on top of the counter and tossed it to Esme who fiddled with it. "What channel was the news?" she asked.

"I don't know. We haven't watched TV since we left Forks. Just start at channel 1 and keep going forward until you find the news."

"Ooh, I think I found something. Actually, almost all of the channels are on the news, it looks like..." Esme trailed off as the girls stopped to listen to the news.

"_Again, all residents are urged to stay home. I repeat, all residents are urged to stay home in order to avoid this fast spreading pandemic flu outbreak. Frequent handwashing is..." Thud. _

Esme and Bella stared at the screen in horror as the newscaster apparently collapsed from the flu. In the background, they could hear voices in the TV studio stating, _"Shit, we lost another one. She was our last reporter. Where the hell are we going to find a perky, reasonably intelligent girl with public speaking skills on such short notice?"_

The girls smiled at each other knowing that they'd just been hit with a stroke of good luck. "Bella, I believe we've found jobs. We're perky!"

So, after borrowing the telephone at the dry cleaners to locate the TV studio. The girls took off for their offices to offer up their services, confident that they would make rent in six days.


	4. Chapter 4

**This story is AU/OOC**

**Rated: M for coarse language**

**All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Chapter Three**

"Oh my God! This room smells like sperm!" Charlotte complained. "What the hell do you guys do in here? Masturbate?"

"Yes," Caius and Demetri admitted at the same time.

"Sometimes, they even bring the slutty ones in here," Heidi informed her.

"And what? Have sex while they watch porn?"

"Exactly."

"Isn't there another room for us to watch TV in? One that's less skanky?"

"You know, for someone so...so...uh...sexworthy..."

"Sexworthy, Caius? Is that even a word?" Demetri asked.

"Of course it is. I am just complimenting Mrs. Whitlock on her sexworthy body."

Charlotte shook her head. "I'm going to regret asking this, but what constitutes a sexworthy body?"

"The fact that it is worthy enough for me to have sex with, of course."

"You're an arrogant, son of a bitch, aren't you?"

"Who wouldn't want to have sex with me?" Caius asked.

"Caius, bear in mind that you don't have high standards, you married Athenadora."

"Demetri, shut up. I make one mistake—just one, and you have to keep harping on it. Have some respect, I'm your king."

"No, you said that you were no longer our king."

"Not so fast, buddy. He's going to have to remain king and we're going to be his advisors because shit's going to go to hell in a handbasket soon and it's going to be up to all of us to figure it out. Now, let's turn the TV on," Peter suggested.

"Sure." Demetri grabbed a pair of disposable latex gloves before picking up the sticky remote.

"That's disgusting." Heidi crinkled her nose. "You two need serious help."

"And some Lysol," Charlotte added. "Subjecting us to this room is kind of unfair. Isn't there another TV in this castle?"

"Of course, there are TV's in most of the rooms."

"Then why did you bring us here?"

"You can't fault a guy for hoping for an orgy." Caius shrugged his shoulders. "I can be seductive, you know."

"Caius, there's nothing seductive about you, this room, or the smell of spunk! On top of that, Charlotte and I have mates."

"Again with the mates! I'm sick and tired of mates!"

"Yeah!" Demetri nodded his head in agreement.

Heidi shook her head and warned, "Caius, one day, you and Demetri will meet your mates and become completely besotted with them."

"Moi? Besotted." Caius snorted. "Never."

"That goes for me as well. I refuse to ever be as besotted as Felix is with you."

"Don't knock it until you try it, Dem. Besides, I'm the one getting laid on a regular basis," Felix replied before turning to the guests. "Follow me, we'll go to Aro's and Sulpicia's room to watch TV—that's the most sterile room in the castle."

Suddenly, loud knocking was heard on the castle doors along with _"Please, open the doors!" _

"They can't be the zombies, they don't talk—they only groan," Caius pointed out. "They wouldn't be able to knock that fast either. Then he looked up at Peter. "How the heck did you and your mate get into the castle?"

"We climbed in through the roof access."

"Smart." He nodded his head while Felix went to open the main door. They all stood on the ready in case any zombies tried to get inside. Several vampires came rushing into the castle. Outside, quite a few zombies had been decapitated and a few of the vampires were ripping off heads. "What are you doing here?" Caius asked upon seeing Alice Cullen and a few other vampires inluding all of the Denalis minus Irina.

Alice Cullen spoke, "We are here to request your assistance. We've been searching for two of our family members for more than five years now and we can't seem to locate them."

"Losing Carlisle Cullen and his brat Edward isn't exactly a negative thing," Caius replied.

"That's true, but we're not looking for them. We left Carlisle's coven over five years ago. We're looking for Esme Platt and Isabella Swan. With the zombie situation, we are more concerned about their safety than ever."

"Isabella Swan? She's dead, isn't she?" Demetri asked. "Felix and I saw her being drained by Edward's mate."

"Yeah," Felix nodded. "I saw it happen."

"Esme saved her. We all saved her," the hot, leggy blonde replied.

"Hello, I'm Caius. Your name is?"

"Rosalie. Rosalie Hale McCarty. This is my mate Emmett Mc Carty."

His Highness stomped his foot. "Not fair! So not fair! All the hot ones are mated."

"Oh, Caius, cut it out. Be more king-like," Heidi chastised.

"Grrr..."

"Growling is not king-like. Hello, I'm Heidi. I'm the reasonable one here. We would appreciate it if you would explain what happened to Carlisle Cullen's coven."

So Rosalie explained all that transpired after Bella was nearly drained by Edward's mate Bree. "You see, Emmett told Esme to run away with Isabella thinking we would find her using Alice's gift. The only thing is Alice hasn't been able to locate her. We suspect it's because Isabella is a shield."

"And how did you come to be with the Denalis?"

"We immediately headed to Alaska thinking that would be where Esme would take Bella. Of course, they weren't there. After we explained what transpired on the field, the Denalis broke all ties with Carlisle and Edward."

"So why did you come here?"

"We are requesting the services of Demetri. Eleazar believes he will be able to track them. He knows Esme's essence. The zombie situation is spilling into the United States and we are worried about them. The government bureaucrats are being idiots, they're insisting that it's a flu virus despite the fact that whole countries are being wiped off the map. They think that they'll be able to find a cure for this virus."

"How did this zombie situation start and why are vampires being affected?"

"Only vampires who take in infected human blood are being affected. This infection is unlike others and once it hits our bloodstream, it affects us immediately. There is no cure," a vampire in a loin cloth replied. "It's best if you only partake in animal blood for the time being." He paused for a moment. "As for how the zombie situation started, it's a long story involving my natural father Joham Lobishomen and Carlisle Cullen. They set up a laboratory in Brazil where they were attempting to come up with a vaccine that could turn vampires back to human—it failed, of course, and the candidates who volunteered to test out the vaccine turned into zombies. These zombies, of course, crave brains and human entrails."

"Why didn't they kill the zombies?"

"Carlisle believed they could be rehabilitated. They ended up escaping and the crisis that the world is experiencing now is the result."

"Who are you again?" Caius asked suspiciously.

"I apologize. I never introduced myself. My name is Nahuel."

"Are you aware that you have a beating heart and that you're surrounded by vampires who crave blood?"

"Yes, I am half vampire/half human. Tanya Denali is my mate."

"Phew, I'm glad you have a mate because you'd put up some good competition for the chicks. They probably like tanned men in loin cloths," Caius conjectured.

"You're not kidding," Demetri agreed.

"Are you two done?" Heidi was glaring at them with her hands on her hips.

"Hey, have some sympathy for us. The females are all gone—even the slutty ones!" the tracker yelled. "For God's sake, it looks like almost everyone here is mated."

"Yes, they are and now would be a good time for me to introduce everyone," Alice stated. You've already been introduced to Rose and Emmett. This is my mate Jasper Whitlock. You also know all of the Denalis—Carmen and Eleazar; Tanya and Nahuel; and Kate. This is Kate's mate Garrett. And this is Huilen, she is Nahuel's aunt." She turned to Peter and Charlotte. "Why are you two here?"

"So we can watch the news, of course," Peter replied.

"You're saying that you moved your horny ass away from the porn channel in your multi-million dollar Texas estate modeled after Hugh Hefner's Playboy Mansion just so you could watch the news in Volterra, Italy?" Jasper asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Yeah."

"Alright, I'll go with that. I don't ever doubt you."

"You made it seem as if you were a stickler for propriety and didn't watch porn." Demetri chuckled at Peter.

"I didn't say that I didn't watch porn, I just said that we needed to watch the news."

"I believe we should watch the news since this man is a very accurate clairvoyant," Eleazar suddenly piped in. "He is even more accurate with his predictions than Alice here. Her visions are subjective."

The rather large group of vampires gathered in the throne room while Felix and Demetri brought down Aro's flatscreen TV and set top box and hooked them up. They scanned through many European news channels and found many of them were dead.

"Switch it to a British channel cause I don't understand what they're saying in the other countries," Peter urged. Felix did as he asked.

The stoic newscaster appeared somber on the screen as he reported the news, _"Britain is in a state of emergency. I repeat, we are in a state of emergency. For your own safety, all residents are urged to stay indoors. I repeat, all residents are urged to stay indoors. If you do encounter one of these creatures, the only way to stop them is through decapitation or by destruction of their brains."_

"I knew it! I knew it! I guessed right! The rest of those assholes just stood there until they were overwhelmed by those zombie things and finally started feeding from them. I'm not kidding you. Aro kept ordering everyone to use their gifts. I was the only one ripping heads off. You should have seen Aro as a zombie; he was actually quite comical—he couldn't stop waving his hand like a politician and he had a permagrin infused onto his face. Then there was Marcus—I actually think he was more animated as a zombie."

"Why didn't you feed from them?" Jasper asked.

"I have high standards when it comes to my food. Those zombies reeked. I don't know how the others were able to feed from them; plus they had their innards hanging out of them. Would you feed from them?"

"No, I was just curious as to why you didn't feed from them like everyone else. I've been ripping off heads too."

"Do I look like Aro's little lackey to you? The guy was a legend in his own mind who never listened to anything I had to say." Caius pointed at the screen. "Well, now, this guy looks important."

The reporter on the TV spoke, _"We turn now to Dr. Francois Montford of the World Health Conglomerate. Hopefully, he'll be able to give us some answers."_

The group watched together as the doctor approached a podium in front of a large brick building. He was wearing a lab coat and greeted all of the reporters in a somber and subdued manner. _"Thank you for coming. As you are all aware, this year the flu outbreak has climbed to pandemic levels and with devastating results. I am here to assure you that we, here at the World Health Conglomerate, are working tirelessly to come up with a cure for this virus. In the meantime, please continue with frequent handwashing and avoid all contact with anyone who has the flu virus. Thank you." _He walked away from the podium without taking any questions.

"_That's it? How in bloody hell is frequent handwashing going to help us with these monsters?" _the reporter asked, disgusted. _"We're past the point of a flu virus. We want answers!"_

"Oh my God!" Alice, who had been rubbing her temples squeaked.

At the same time, Peter shouted, "Turn the channel!"

"No! We need to get to the States now!"

"Turn the goddamned TV channel," Peter insisted. He took the remote and switched channels. Two female reporters were on the screen.

"Bellsy!" Emmett cried.

"Esme?" Jasper questioned. He turned to Alice.

"I really didn't see this. I can't see them at all. I mean I see them on the TV, but not in my visions."

"_Thank you for tuning into Seattle One. Seattle's only operational news channel at the moment. My name is Esme Platt."_

"_And I'm Isabella McCarty." _

"Aw, sissy is using my name," Em chortled happily.

"We will be providing live coverage of the pandemic flu crisis currently plaguing our nation. We..."

Esme was interrupted by the cameraman and a few other workers running behind the desk and Bella screaming, _"What the fuck is that?"_

_**Meanwhile in Forks, Washington...**_

"Isabella, don't swear!" Charlie snapped at the screen then turned to his new wife Sue, her kids Leah and Seth, Billy, and Jacob. "Alright, that is clearly my kid on TV wearing freaky golden contact lenses. I want fucking answers and I want them now!"

"Charlie, don't swear. Honestly, it's no wonder your daughter curses on live TV," Sue chastised.

"Answers, Susie. My baby isn't a runaway and she isn't dead. All of a sudden, she's changed her name and is a reporter on TV along with Carlisle Cullen's wife who has also changed her name. Now, I want answers now!"

"Dad, Bella's a vampire and so are the Cullens. Jake, Leah, and I are a vampire killing wolves—only we don't kill vampires with golden eyes, we only kill the red eyed ones. None of us knew that Bella was still alive. We were told she was killed by a red-eyed vampire in the war."

"Seth! Our existence is supposed to remain a secret!"

"Aw, Leah, Dad misses Bella and I can't lie to him anymore. He needed to learn the truth."

"Yeah, but..."

They all suddenly turned their attention back to the TV screen.


	5. Chapter 5

**This story is AU/OOC.**

**Rated: M for coarse language**

**All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Chapter Four**

_**Back in Seattle...**_

"Those are zombies. That's what they are," Esme insisted. "Look at them. Their hearts aren't beating. They're moving ridiculously slow and they're feeding off of Steve the news director. I mean, they're really digging into his loins—literally."

"Ew! Gross! It stinks in here."

"Bella, the smell is the least of our worries. Those zombies have to be destroyed."

A young college intern came rushing into the studio. "Several news stations around Europe are saying that after less than a day of the flu, the victims turn into zombie-like creatures. They recommend that we kill them by decapitating them or by destroying their brains. Similar news reports are coming in from South America. Um, didn't that zombie used to be Britney the morning news anchor?"

"Everyone quiet!" Esme shouted.

"Um, Esme, we're still live," Bert the cameraman stated. "And I can't get to the camera because those creatures are by it."

"Fine, then we'll just have to take care of those zombies on camera."

"How do you propose we do that?" Bella asked.

"We have to destroy their brains. At least that's what it says in all of the books I've read."

"Esme, those are romance books."

"Yes, I know, but it's the only course of action that makes sense."

"I'll be right back."

"Alright, who's packing?" Bert questioned.

"Why?" Alison the make-up artist asked.

"Because, we need to blow their brains out."

"Do we really need to resort to such violence?"

"Of course we do. Those things aren't human, they're monsters! They are zombies. Corpses that have been reanimated and have an insatiable desire to feed off of human brains and entrails," Esme informed her.

"Oh, but I just finished reading, '_My Undead Earl_' and the Earl just couldn't harm his Countess no matter what. They aren't all bad, sometimes, zombies have hearts."

"I just read the book, too, but I'm afraid that was fantasy. This is reality, those things are crazy and they are heading towards us!"

"Shit!" they all screamed.

Bella, who had disappeared for a moment, rushed back into the room. On screen, the zombies could be seen slowly stalking toward the news team. There were only six of them and they consisted of the former morning, afternoon, and evening news anchors. "These were the only hard, blunt objects I could find that can be used as weapons." She handed everyone a wide array of items ranging from snow shovels to baseball bats to 2' by 4's.

"If we're going to do this on camera, it has to be instructional," Liz the production manager announced.

"Fine." Bella plastered a smile on her face. "Hello, we're back and live on air. We are currently experiencing a Zombie Crisis here at Seattle One and we are going to attempt to handle the situation at hand. First of all, it is imperative that we remain calm."

Esme spoke next, "Second, if you do encounter one of these creatures your best line of defense is to take a hard, blunt object such as this garden shovel and hold it out in front of you. When the zombie gets close enough, give it a good whack on the side of it's head to try to dislodge it's brain." Esme smacked the zombie several times using human strength. Blood spurted all over the place as the others did the same with the other zombies. Three of the zombies went down, two were still moving.

Suddenly, a gun shot rent the air. One of the zombies collapsed on camera. The holder of the gun pulled the trigger two more times, destroying the zombies with bullets straight through the center of their brains.

"Bella, where did you get that gun from?"

"From the security guard. He was dead anyway."

"And where did you learn to shoot like that?"

"Esme, my father is a cop and he hunts for sport. There was no way that I was going to grow up without learning how to fire a gun. Now can we get these stinky corpses out of here?" Bella turned to the camera and with a smile stated, "If all else fails, I suggest blowing their brains out using a gun."

"Maybe we should have added a violence disclaimer. We're going to have all of the anti-gun groups hounding our station," Liz the production manager commented.

"Liz, no one gives a shit about being politically correct right now. We've got zombies!"

**XOXO**

_**Forks, Washington...**_

"That's right, baby girl! You tell them!" Charlie whooped as he watched his daughter off the zombies. He cocked his service revolver and pointed it at Jacob Black.

"Charlie, that's my husband!" Leah cried.

"I know that, Leah, and I'm going to blow his brains out unless I get the true story of what went on between Bella and the Cullens from either him or his father because both of them seem to have underestimated just how much my daughter means to me." Clearly, Charlie Swan wasn't going to take anymore crap.


	6. Chapter 6

**This story is AU/OOC**

**Rated: M for coarse language**

**All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.**

_**Volterra, Italy...**_

"We are going to Seattle to rescue them!" Caius declared. "Two beautiful single, female vampires should not be forced to defend themselves against zombies alone! Especially, the gun-wielding brunette with perky tits, great smile, and the big, innocent doe eyes."

"Oh, yes, and I must deliver the former Mrs. Cullen with her long, luxurious caramel colored locks of hair and her pert bottom from the hands of evil. Far be it for me to allow her to endanger herself."

"Definitely."

"Will you two stop!" Heidi reprimanded. "Jesus Christ, all you can think about is sex and during a time of crisis, too."

"We were only thinking of their safety. How they choose to thank us for rescuing them is up to them. Isn't that right, Caius?"

"That's right. Now are we going to the United States or what?"

"Yeah, we're going," Peter confirmed.

"And we'd better get there quickly," Alice added as the group headed out of the castle.

_**Twenty-four hours later...**_

"Esme, I'm worried. Can we go to Forks and check on my dad?" Bella asked as she took in the surroundings. In one day, Seattle had turned into a city filled with death and destruction. The streets were littered with carnage and there were zombies wandering everywhere. She couldn't handle having her father turned into a zombie.

"Yeah, we can. We should at least pay the rent first, though."

I know, it's a good thing we asked the station manager for an advance in pay in cash before he dropped dead."

"Definitely."

The girls walked upstairs and knocked on the owner's door several times. They heard a groan and a thump coming from inside. Esme tried jiggling the door knob. It was unlocked, the girls opened the door and caught sight of the now zombie owner and his zombie wife who were slowly making their way towards the door.

"Do we still have to pay rent if they're dead?" Esme asked.

"Of course not, but I think we should decapitate them."

"Good idea. Um...I really don't want to touch them."

"Hold on, I have an idea." Bella dashed into the kitchen where she'd spotted a pair of long yellow kitchen gloves. She looked under the sink where she found a second pair and tossed them to Esme. "Okay, you need to teach me how to do this. I've never decapitated anyone before."

Esme nodded her head. "There are three ways to decapitate someone. One is to put one hand on the back of the head and one hand on the front and simply twist. Of course, you want to avoid the mouth area because you don't want to get bitten. The second way is to place one hand on top of the head and one hand under the chin and yank the head off."

"That sounds better."

"Oh, it is. My favorite is Jasper's way."

"And what way is that?"

"Ram your fist hard enough and the head will dislodge."

"That sounds really violent, Esme."

"Oh, pish posh. This coming from the girl who shot three zombies straight through the brain. Anyway, this is good practice for if you ever run into Edward or Carlisle."

"True, very true. So, you go first. I'll watch and go next."

Esme walked up to the owner and twisted his head off. "Your turn, Bella."

Bella approached the wife. "Oh, I can't do it. She was so nice. Remember, she brought us cookies."

"Bella, she's a zombie. Besides, we couldn't eat them and her husband was a perv."

"I know, but..." The woman grabbed her arm. "Oh!" She shoved her away. The woman's body flew to the other side of the bedroom, her hand was still hanging onto Bella's arm. "Gross! Ew!" She flung the woman's hand into the kitchen.

"Oh, for Christ's sake!" Esme marched up to the woman and ripped her head off. "Bella, you can't let personal feelings get in the way. These are zombies, their brains don't work."

"Esme, I know he goes hunting from time to time. I've seen him with his rifle on Sundays. Do you think he'd notice if we took his rifle?"

"Bella, he's dead—his head is on the dining room floor and his body is in the living room. Of course, he's not going to notice. Besides, you're doing it all in the name of self defense."

"That's right and we did try to pay the rent."

"We sure did. Now grab the rifle and let's go."

Bella broke the lock to the gun cabinet and grabbed two rifles and a handgun along with some ammunition. Esme, meanwhile, found the keys to the man's truck. The girls ran back down to their apartment and each packed a backpack. They locked up their apartment and walked downstairs. Esme headed for the little parking lot behind their building.

"Why are we going this way?" Bella asked.

"Because we're driving."

"Driving what? We don't own a car."

"We're borrowing the owner's truck in the name of safety and security."

"Wouldn't it be faster for us to just run?"

"Not with these zombies all over the place. Besides, he's dead—he won't mind."

"Alrighty, we'll do it your way." Bella looked beyond Esme. "Um, duck." Esme squatted onto the ground while Bella fired off two shots and took out two approaching zombies. "I agree. Let's drive to Forks. Besides, it'll help to mask our scent from the wolves."

_**Two hours later...**_

"Oh my God! This traffic is so bad. Everyone is leaving Seattle. We like totally would have been in Forks by now—we're not even on the 101 yet."

"I know, but it's nice to be behind the wheel of a car again."

"Esme, this is a truck."

"So? It's still a vehicle. I enjoy driving."

"Well, we're not going anywhere now, are we? We've been stuck right here, in this very spot for forty-five minutes."

"You've got a good point there. Maybe, you should go out and see what's holding the traffic up?"

"You want me to get out of the truck, walk on the highway, and see what's causing the traffic jam?"

"Yes."

"Esme, we're on a highway. People just don't go walking out on a highway."

"I'm aware of that, but obviously something is causing this backup. You need to go and find out what's causing it."

"What if I get hit by a car?"

"You're not going to get hit by a car, Bella, because we're stuck! Besides, if you get hit by a car, the passengers in the car are in more danger than you are."

"Why can't you do it?"

"Because I'm driving."

"Fine." She sighed. "I'll be right back." She put a new clip into the gun before opening the door.

"Bella, I think you're becoming addicted to that gun."

"It beats having to touch those things."

"They feel human only colder, and their heads are much easier to remove than a vampire's."

"I've never removed a vampire's head before and I hope to never have to. Be right back."

Bella trekked along the highway at human speed, trying to get a glimpse of what was going on. About two miles into her walk, she climbed onto a guard rail to get a better look. She realized that traffic was backed up for miles and miles ahead of her and she could hear panicked screams in the distance. The screams were becoming closer. A trucker was on his CB radio chatting with some others. All of a sudden he got out of his truck and hollered, "Everyone—move, move, move! The zombies are heading this way from both directions. We're all sitting ducks if we stay here!"

"Holy shit!" Bella cursed and rushed back to Esme—fighting the crowds in the process. "Esme, we have to get out of here, the zombies are coming from both directions."

"Alright, let's go. Get in!"

"Get in? Are you kidding me? There are zombies coming."

"Yeah, I know. Get in the damn truck, Bella."

"Okay!"

Esme suddenly turned the wheel and gunned the truck to the right off of the highway. "We're about a mile away from the Tumwater Boulevard exit anyway."

"Sure, Esme! You decapitate a couple of zombies and now you think you're Rambo! Just so you know, this is illegal."

"Yeah, yeah, and so are stealing guns and trucks from the dead. We are in desperate straits here!"

"Fine, can we just grab our stuff and run to Forks?"

"We sure can," Esme stated, "just as soon as we outrun the cops that are following us."

Bella turned around to look. Sure enough there were patrol cars in hot pursuit of them. "I can't go to jail, Esme! My dad is a cop!"

"Duh! That's why I'm going to get us out of here."

"When I was human, you used to be sweet and motherly."

"Right, and then I grew up and decided to act my age."

"Look out! Zombies!" Bella cried. A gaggle of zombies were slowly making their way up the road. Esme plowed right through them. "Aaaacccckkkk! What are you doing? You hit them!"

"I know, I heard the thump! Several of them!"

"Just great! Now we can add 'hit and run' to our list of crimes!"

"Bella, it's okay. The cops are doing the same thing. Look!"

Sure enough, the police were doing the same thing. Bella looked a bit closer. "Keep going, Esme. Those aren't cops! Those are people in a stolen cop car and are just following us!"

"We're in a stolen truck!"

"I know that! Just get us to Forks!"

"I'm trying! You're stressing me out!"

"Well, you keep breaking laws, Esme!"


	7. Chapter 7

**This story is AU/OOC**

**Rated: M for coarse language**

**All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.**

_**At the same time in Forks, Washington...**_

"Caius, why are you wearing sunglasses? It's dark out."

"I don't want to wear contacts."

"You're sticking out like a sore thumb."

"And you're not? You're wearing high heels in the middle of a forest, Alice!"

"I can't help it. I'm height challenged."

"Height challenged? Just say that you're short, the truth is always better. And just to let you know, wearing heels when you're short works like a beacon. It's like you're announcing to the world that you're short and sensitive about it when you shouldn't be. You should be proud of who you are instead of having a complex about your shortcomings."

Alice opened her mouth to say something to him, then closed it. She stood there, thinking and pondering his words; realizing that he was absolutely correct. She didn't even need her visions to realize this. "Thank you, Caius. I think I'll take your advice."

"Good. Now when are we going to find Isabella Swan?"

"Why?"

"Because it looked like she needed help."

"She popped off three zombies with three clean shots from a pistol. The girl clearly had everything under control," Jasper reminded him.

"Yes, well, next time she might miss and I'll be there to protect her." The truth was, Caius had been unable to get Isabella Swan off of his mind since he saw her on TV. There was something about her; something entrancing; something that made him want to protect her. This was the first time in his three thousand years that he felt protective about someone. What was it that made this girl so special? He wanted answers. In order to get them, he needed to find her first. He scanned the group of friendly vampires in front of him. He was glad to be out and about for once instead of holed up within the cold, stone walls of the castle. He was glad that Chelsea was dead and could no longer do Aro's bidding and bond unwilling souls together. He detested Athenadora; that had been Chelsea's doing. Aro wanted her bonded to Caius because Sulpicia wanted a best friend. Ridiculous. He thought it ghastly unfair that Aro had been one of the few vampires in the castle who had been with his true mate the entire time. He felt horrible for Marcus who'd simply wanted to die after his beloved Didyme was murdered—at the hands of Aro no less. Yes, the vampire world was a safer place without Aro Volturi, but what now? Reality was slowly creeping upon Caius that he was the lone king left, and he simply couldn't abandon his post like a spoiled child just because it was a position he never asked for.

"That's the spirit." Peter Whitlock winked at him.

Caius was about to ask him what he meant by that statement, but was interrupted by screams coming from beyond the forest followed by gunshots. The group of vampires started heading towards the chaos. Zombies were swarming a residential street and several of the residents had taken to shooting them.

"No, don't shoot. Please! He's my son!" a woman pleaded. The zombie who was her son suddenly bit into her head and started devouring her brain. Other zombies joined in and started feeding off of various parts of her body.

"That's disgusting! At least we only drink their blood."

"Caius, what do you intend to do about Carlisle Cullen and this Joham guy?" Jasper asked.

"Obviously, they'll have to be executed, but right now, I believe we have to deal with the zombies because it's our responsibility to eliminate them since Carlisle Cullen and Joham Lobishomen are of our world."

"That actually sounded regal and respectable, Caius," Demetri noted.

"Well, yes, I do have my moments. I was one third of the ruling Volturi party, you know."

"I know that Caius, but you and I have always been a little closer."

"That sounds sentimental, Dem."

"I can be sentimental and so can you."

"Sound the fucking violins, why don't you? Soon the two of you will be watching chick flicks and crying over spilt milk together." Jasper shook his head.

_Thwack! _Alice gave him a swift slap across his face. "Be polite, Jasper! I happen to think Caius and Demetri are being sensitive."

"So do I!" Charlotte declared. Surrounding her, all the female vampires did fist pumps and glared at Jasper.

"I can't help you here, man," Peter whispered to him. "You're gonna have to dig yourself out of your own grave."

"You know, Jasper, just because you have the sensitivity of a toenail doesn't mean that all men are like you. Caius and Demetri are obviously sensitive like my Emmy Bear."

"Emmett—call him Emmett! Cut out this stupid Emmy Bear bullshit, Rose. And by the way, your Emmy Bear is only sensitive when he wants to get laid!"

"Like you, Jazzy?" Alice asked.

Meanwhile, Caius and Demetri were watching the proceedings with amused expressions on their faces.

It was the first time someone else was being chastised for being insensitive and they were enjoying every minute of it.

Their attention was diverted when several successive gunshots were fired. "Shit! That one hit me!" Garrett fingered a bullet hole on his shirt. He broke into a smile and joked to Kate, "Honey, I took a bullet for you."

She rolled her eyes. "You're a damned vampire, bullets don't affect you at all."

"I liked this shirt though, you picked it for me."

"Oh my God! What the hell is with all this sappiness tonight?" Jasper shook his head. "Yeow! That hurt, Kate!" He jumped away from Kate Denali's shocking touch.

"You deserved it for that comment, you insensitive jerk!"

"I thought Jane was evil, but damn, I forgot about Kate's gift," Caius murmured. "Shouldn't we be helping the humans?"

"Yeah, we should," Peter agreed, "but we have to do it the human way unless we can somehow draw the zombies out here."

"Gifts don't work on zombies. That's how the castle became inundated with them, Aro ordered them to use their gifts. In the end, he ordered them to drain them."

"I say we just lob their heads off with blunt objects like Esme did on TV; unless someone owns a gun."

"And just where are we supposed to get blunt objects at this time of night?" Alice asked.

"I know." Emmett nodded his head. "Come with me."

They followed Emmett to Forks High School where he led them to the shed by the baseball field. He shredded the padlock between his fingers and opened the doors to reveal about fifty baseball bats used by the high school baseball team. They quickly grabbed a few bats each and took off on their mission to destroy the zombies.


	8. Chapter 8

**This story is AU/OOC**

**Rated: M for coarse language**

**All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Chapter Seven**

"Oh my God. It's like a warzone here," Bella said as she looked onto her father's street. She and Esme had abandoned the truck and made a run for it as soon as they hit a wooded area. It only took them about ten minutes to arrive in Forks while running at vampire speed. The girls had one gun and one rifle each along with their backpacks. They each had long, yellow rubber kitchen gloves on as well.

"Let's try to make it to the tree in front of your father's house," Esme suggested.

"Alright, let's do this."

Bella had her rifle cocked and ready to go. Esme had hers hanging out of her backpack. The two girls sifted their way through the crowd of zombies, Bella firing round after round and Esme simply decapitating heads with her bare hands leaving dead zombies in their wake.

Bella and Esme were about to jump up onto the tree when a deadly voice scowled, "Get in the house, young lady. You too, Mrs. Cullen."

Wide eyed, Bella turned towards the voice. "Daddy?"

"Yes, it's Daddy, now get in the goddamned house. I want fucking explanations now!"

"Daddy, you're swearing!"

"At least I didn't do it on live TV—now get in the house before I blow my top!"

"Bella, I think we should listen to him."

"Of course we're going to listen to him, he's my father."

"Will you two stop talking about me like I'm not here. I have ears, you know."

"Sorry." The girls rushed into the house along with Charlie. "Oh, God! What's that stink?" Bella cried as she walked into the house.

"Speak for yourself!" Jacob snapped.

Bella sniffed her armpits. "I do not stink! I shower twice a day, I'll have you know."

Jake flashed his trademark grin and opened his arms to his best friend. "I missed you, Bells. I was so worried about you. The doc told us you were dead, but we didn't believe him—especially after my imprint saw Edward with that scrawny vamp Bree."

"Ah, so Edward's mate has a name," Bella said. "Yeah, I was changed because Edward sent his mate to kill me. Esme saved me; so did Emmett, Rose, Jasper, and Alice." She paused for a second taking in what Jacob had said. "Wait! You have an imprint? Who?"

"It's me," Leah stated.

"Oh, boy. Good luck with that," Bella commented.

"Just so you know, we've been together for over five years now and you aren't getting your claws into him, Swan."

"Trust me, Jacob is like a brother to me. I am soooo not interested in him."

"Ahem!" Charlie cleared his throat to get his daughter's attention. She turned to him. "How come you hug Jake and not your old man."

"I'm sorry, Dad. This is all so overwhelming. You're not supposed to know of our existence...and...hang on, you're not supposed to know what Jake, Leah, and Seth are neither, but I'm assuming you do."

"Just found out yesterday. I don't care if you're a vampire, Bells. You're still my little girl. Nothing will ever change that; now get over here and hug me."

Bella gently snuggled up to her father. "I missed you, Daddy. It's been really hard these last few years. Esme and I have been trying, but...it's not easy to make it in the world."

"No, it's not easy, but I'm here for you now. We're going to figure this shit out."

"What did I tell you about swearing in front of the children, Charlie!" Sue chastised.

"Sorry, Susie." He turned to his daughter. "Bella, you remember Sue Clearwater, don't you? She said you met her at a bonfire once.

"I do. Nice to see you again."

"It's nice to see you again, too, dear."

"Well, Susie and I got married about four years ago."

"Aww...that's nice. I'm happy for you. Hey, that means Seth is my step-brother now. Cool!"

"Isn't it? I'm the only wolf who can say that he has a vampire for a step-sister...and the cooler sister, too. I can't believe you popped off zombies on live TV."

"I know, right? I had to shoot them in order to save human lives. Besides, I didn't want to touch them, they smell a hundred times worse than wolves."

"You've got that right, Swan," Leah agreed. "The stench has been awful."

"They even smell bad to us," Billy said. He chuckled at Bella. "You know, I think you're a lot happier now that you're away from Cullen."

"Oh, she is," Esme agreed. "He was a pompous prick if you ask me; just like Carlisle." She told everyone the true story of Bella's change and the girls together told them how they had been surviving the past five years.

"We're going to figure out a new housing situation together."

"Oh, but we can't live here, Dad. We don't want to be responsible for any of the wolves changing. It would be unjust. We can visit from time to time, but not for extended periods."

Her words stunned Billy, Sue, and Leah. Her consideration for the wolves was unexpected. They thought vampires were unable to care.

"We'll figure something out. I'm not going to lose you again, Bella."

"Okay, Dad."

Jake pulled back the curtain a skosh and looked out the window. "Crap, there are more out there now. Shit! I think that's the Newton guy."

"Really?"

Bella peeked out of the window. "It is and that's Jessica Stanley with him." She sat down. "I'm sad that Mike's a zombie—he was nice, but there's a certain vindication that comes with knowing that one of the queen bitches from high school is a zombie."

Charlie snorted. "Don't hold back, Bella."

"Oh, I won't...um...they're coming up our front steps."

"Damn it, alright, we're going to take out the ones surrounding our house. Billy, you take the spot by the window and I'll just go out on the front steps."

"I can help, too, Dad. You know that I have good aim."

"Alright, you come out with me. Start in the middle, work your way outward to the right. I'll go left. Susie, you open and close the front door. If I get bitten, you shoot me, is that understood? And you make sure that Bella is taken care of, too."

"I will, Dad," Leah answered for her petrified mother. Bella realized just how much Sue and her kids had come to mean to her father.

She bravely nodded her head when her father asked if she was ready, stepped outside, and started shooting.


	9. Chapter 9

**This story is AU/OOC**

**Rated: M for coarse language**

**All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.**

"Something is going down at the other end of this street," Peter noted as he lobbed off another zombie head.

"That's where Bella lives or used to when she was human," Jasper pointed out.

"Well, she's home now, ain't she?" Peter grinned at him.

"She is and Esme's with her. I can feel Esme's essence," Demetri informed them.

"Alright, we'll handle this side of the block, you handle the other side," Eleazar stated.

Caius, Demetri, the Whitlocks, and the McCarty's rushed towards the Swan residence. When they arrived, Charlie was trying to reason with someone.

"Listen to me, Karen. He's no longer human. Mike is dead."

"This is still my Michael. I won't let you kill him."

A man next to her pointed an assault rifle at Bella. "Your kid dies if you put a bullet through mine. You've already done killed his wife."

"That was me." Bella informed him. She had a satisfied smirk on her face. Caius imagined that the guy's wife must have been a bitch.

Suddenly, a blond, male zombie reached for the woman named Karen and sunk his teeth into her heart.

"Mikey, no! No, no! That's your Mommy! Karen? Karen, honey?" the man called, but it was too late. She was dead.

Charlie Swan nodded at Bella. They fired a bullet each and took out the zombie and his mother. The father saw red, he turned his rifle onto the Swan residence and sprayed bullets onto it.

"Daddy!" Bella cried as her father went down. Caius, for some reason, rushed straight to her. He broke the neck of the man who shot Charlie Swan, then went to Bella's injured father, sunk his teeth into his neck and injected his venom into him.

"Come on, we have to get inside," Peter urged. Caius picked up Charlie and carried him into the house while Demetri helped a shaken Bella inside.

It was chaos in the house. Two humans were bleeding from bullet wounds. "Do something! Change him!" Jacob Black ordered. "I can't live without my dad. Change him! Bella? Please?"

"I...I don't know how," she whimpered, "but I'll try."

"Change my mother, too. Please, Bella?" Seth begged.

Bella moved towards the two bleeding humans. A warm hand reached out for her shoulder, one that sent frissons through her body. "Stay," he ordered in a velvety voice. "Demetri and Peter will change them. You're not calm enough. Stay."

She turned towards the calming voice and stared into the eyes of Caius Volturi who was staring at her with a shocked expression.

"Holy vampire imprinting," Leah commented.

"Is that what this is?" Bella asked.

"Looks like it to me. Holy wow."

Caius reached out and stroked Bella's cheek.

"Oh, you're done for, man." Peter shook his head. "You're falling head over heels already and you haven't even claimed her. No more porn for you, unless she happens to like porn."

Caius didn't answer him. He stared at his mate completely besotted, unable to filter in any other information. It didn't matter that the world around him was falling apart, he knew that his world was in front of him and nothing was going to change that ever.

"Thank you for changing my father," she whispered.

He nodded, unable to utter one word in front of his breathtaking mate.

Two screams, one male and one female, shattered their tranquil moment. Billy and Sue had begun their transformations and were screaming in sheer agony from the burning pain.

"Why isn't my father screaming?" Bella asked.

"Bella, you didn't scream either. You were very calm through your entire change," Esme noted. "It must be a family trait."

"I need medical supplies," Rose interrupted. "We need to remove any bullets inside of their bodies before their skin hardens.

"My mother is a nurse. She has a medical bag upstairs."

"Would you get it for me, please."

"Of course." She rushed upstairs and brought down a black bag filled with supplies. "Wait, are you qualified?" Leah questioned as Rose opened the bag.

"She's been to medical school twice and nursing school twice. She's more than qualified," Esme assured.

Rose removed a bullet from Sue's abdomen. She quickly stitched her up and moved onto Billy Black who had taken a bullet in his neck and one in his chest. With deft hands, she quickly removed the bullets and stitched him up. Then she stood up and announced. "Now we wait."

"Wait? What about my father?" Bella asked.

"He's fine, Bella. He doesn't even have a bullet wound. He was just knocked out by the force of the bullets, he was wearing a bulletproof vest."

"Oh, you mean he didn't need to be changed?"

"He did need to be changed," Jake replied. "He wouldn't have been able to live without Sue or my dad. It all worked out well."

"Ah...alrighty then."

"Blondie, thank you."

"You're welcome, you smelly dog."

"Right back at 'ya."

"Now, what are we going to do? Where are we going to take them?" She looked up at Peter. "Who are you?"

"Peter Whitlock, at your service."

"Whitlock? Are you related to Jasper?"

"By venom—yes, by blood—no. Clearly, I'm the better looking one."

"Oh, you are. You have nicer hair than he does and I like your smile."

"_Bella! Don't make me regret changing you!" _Jasper yelled from outside.

"_Hey, Little Bear is part me, too, bonehead!" _Emmett argued. _"Um, we can use some help out here!"_

"Right, we should probably help." Caius turned to Jacob, Leah, and Seth. "You three stay in here. It would help if you could clean up all of the blood. They need to be dressed in cool, lightweight clothing. The change is hotter than the burning embers of hell. Not that I've been to hell. Right, um, I'll just head outside and take out some more zombies." He took Bella's hand. "You're coming with me."

"No, I don't do decapitations. I prefer bullets—less mess, you know."

"I'll stay with her. I'm pretty handy with a rifle myself," Peter said. "Don't worry, she'll be safe."

"Not on your life, you pervert. I'll stay with her!" Emmett lumbered into the room. "She's my sister."

"I'll be fine. Trust me," Bella said. "I can shoot, I swear."

"Yeah, we noticed on freaking live TV!" Emmett grabbed a rifle from the floor and cocked it. "Let's do this.

"Hey, throw me a rifle too," Jasper said, walking into the house. "I've got an idea. Garrett! We need you!" A minute later, Garrett appeared in front of them.

"What's going on Jasper?"

"We're going to take these zombies once and for all." He threw a rifle to him. "From what I can see, there are five of us who can handle a rifle. We're going to get into a V formation and wipe out these zombies, march along the street, and take them out."

"Um, what ammo, Jasper? Do we have enough?" Bella asked.

"You've got enough. Dad, cleaned out the station—all the ammo is here." Seth pointed to a stockpile at the corner of the house.

"Good, you wolves keep the house safe. Esme, maybe you should help them."

"Jasper, I'm not helpless. I can help eradicate the zombies."

"I'll go with her." Demetri placed his hand on her elbow.

"_Ding! Ding! Ding!_ Round 2 of Vampire Imprinting," Leah announced when she witnessed the pair of them smiling at each other with stars in their eyes. She shook her head. "And I thought we wolves were sappy when we met our mates."

"Hey, what in hell is going on? We need help out there!" Heidi stormed into the room angrily. She caught sight of Demetri staring dreamy eyed at Esme and of Caius who was unable to take his eyes off of Bella. "Well, now, aren't we the besotted ones? I knew your words would come back to bite you one day."

"Enough! We need to get out there and take care of business because I, for one, am getting sick and tired of this zombie crap!"

The group of vampires filed outside to finally eradicate all of the zombies—at least the ones in Forks.


	10. Chapter 10

**This story is AU/OOC**

**Rated: M for coarse language**

**All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Chapter Nine**

_**Denali, Alaska**_

_**Forty-eight hours later...**_

"We did it." Alice sighed in relief. Over fifty percent of the residents of Forks had been slaughtered by the zombies. La Push had been miraculously spared because the zombies never made it out that far to the coast; still, they were saddened by the deaths of a beloved elder and a respected tribal chief. Little did they know that Elder Sue Swan and Tribal Chief William Black were currently holed up in a large mansion in Denali, Alaska transforming into vampires. Transforming along with them was Elder Swan's husband and esteemed Police Chief Charlie Swan; the latter looked as if he was in an almost relaxed state while the other two were shaking, shivering, and screaming in agony.

The group had just arrived in Denali, having run all the way from Forks, Washington with three humans undergoing the change in tow. Eleazar turned on the news. They all tuned in to watch.

"It looks like the military is taking charge and eradicating all zombies. The states affected in large part are the ones from Texas going northwest through Washington State. Vancouver and Calgary have been affected in Canada. All of Alaska is safe. The governments of all nations are finally admitting that the zombie situation has nothing at all to do with the flu. They are calling Esme Platt and Isabella McCarty heroes for doing a public service and showing the world how to destroy zombies."

"Cool, we're heroes, Esme!" Bella chirped.

"We sure are and we can owe it all to my zombie romance books."

"I still think you have serious issues for reading zombie romance books."

"Bella, _'My Undead Earl'_ is really good. You should read it."

"I'll stick with my rakes and rogues in breeches and lairds in kilts."

"You do that, Bella."

"I have a kilt." Caius nodded his head. For the last two days, he had been trying to get to know his mate while destroying zombies, but to no avail. He was always interrupted by the two butt-inskys—Emmett McCarty and Jasper Whitlock. Both of them were protective of her and they'd even informed him that there would be no funny business when it came to Bella—whatever the hell that meant.

"I need to go hunting," Bella announced.

"I'll take you," Caius offered immediately.

"No, no, no...I don't think..."

"Emmett, sit! Caius isn't going to hurt Bella. He's her mate. You're going to have to trust him."

"I..."

"Sit down, Emmett. You too, Jasper!" Rosalie had her mighty bitch glare on and everyone squirmed.

Heidi now turned to him with an equally ferocious stare. "Caius, you will behave and treat her with respect, won't you? If I hear any different from Bella, I'll have Kate send you volts of pain until you're no longer able to feel your testicles."

"Ow! Heidi, our balls are tender."

"I know, they're important to you men since they house your brains. I'm just telling you that if you don't treat Bella respectfully, you will be in pain. That's all."

"I'm still your king, you know!"

"Yeah, yeah, get out of here." Heidi sighed. "You know, it's tough being the only sensible one in the castle."

Caius and Bella left the mansion and walked at a leisurely pace through the forest. "I've been wanting to talk to you," she said after awhile.

"Yeah, me too."

"So, you're my mate?"

He gulped. For some reason, he was incredibly nervous which was unlike him because usually he had balls of steel. Then again, his balls had just been threatened with supernatural pain by way of Kate.

"What are you thinking about?" she asked when he didn't answer her.

"Pain."

"How is Jane, by the way?"

"Dead, thank God."

"I'm sorry."

"Why?"

"Oh, I don't know, I just thought that she meant something to the Volturi."

"Not to me, she was an evil witch." He stopped in his tracks and looked at her. "Can I kiss you?"

"Kiss me? Why?"

"I want to. I've wanted to kiss you since I first saw you popping off three zombies with your pistol on live TV."

"Shouldn't we talk about this whole mating thing first?"

"Sure, I guess. What do you want to know?"

"Um..." Bella scratched her head. She really didn't know what to ask him. She just knew that they had to talk—about what, she had no idea. "What's your name?"

"Caius, but you knew that."

"What's your full name?"

"Caius. We didn't have surnames three thousand years ago."

"Oh. I didn't know that."

"What's your full name?"

"Isabella Marie Swan. I'm eighteen—well, I'm permanently eighteen. How old are you?"

"Twenty-one." Bella nodded her head and stood there staring at him. "That's enough small talk." Caius pulled her into his arms and covered her mouth with his. He wasn't good with expressing feelings with words, but he could certainly show it.

Bella, at first, was stunned by the kiss. She wasn't expecting to be kissed. She certainly wasn't expecting the kiss to be so wet, so wonderful, so warm. Her last kiss with a vampire had been a chaste one with Edward who had felt cold, like concrete to her human lips. But this kiss, this kiss she was sharing with her mate was all sorts of wonderful. She sighed as he traced the outline of her lips with his tongue and gently sucked in her lower lip. She felt like one of the heroines in her romance books being seduced by a rake. She was still staring at him dreamy eyed when he finally stopped.

"We should hunt now."

"Yeah, we probably should," she agreed.

He took her hand and they ran. He watched as Bella took down a bear and fed from it; it took every bit of self control for him to not take her right then and there. He held onto a tree for dear life because if he let go of it—he'd claim her in the middle of the forest and she didn't deserve that. His mate deserved everything that was beautiful and wonderful in life and he would be damned if he didn't give her that.

"Do you need to hunt?" Bella asked as she wiped away a drop of blood with her sleeve.

"No, I hunted in Forks. I'm fine."

"Oh. Should we get back to the house?"

"Maybe we can talk more?"

"I'd like that."

And so they talked and kissed and talked and kissed and talked and kissed until they were all talked out and all they had left to do was kiss. It was six hours later when they finally returned to the house. Miraculously, Bella's virginity was still intact.

_**A day later...**_

Every single vampire was on alert as the heartbeats of the three changing humans thumped out their final beats. Charlie Swan was the last to wake up.

"Jesus Christ, Susie! What the hell was all that wailing about? I couldn't even get a wink of sleep, damn it!"

None of the vampires knew how to respond to that. They'd never seen a newborn so coherent.

"Hi, Daddy!" Bella greeted with a smile on her face.

"Hey, baby girl. Did you get rid of all of the zombies?"

"We did. We all did."

"Good going. So this is Alaska, huh?"

"How did you know?"

"Gee, it's not like I couldn't hear all of you talking. I told you that I didn't get any sleep with Sue wailing like a damned banshee."

"It wasn't just Sue, Billy was hollering, too."

"Damn, they were loud."

"Dad, you do know you're a vampire, don't you?"

"Yep, I do."

"Well, good. That's good, you're going to live for an eternity and so are Sue and Billy." She pointed to Sue and Billy who were both trembling in fear. Apparently, that was how typical newborns behaved.

"We need to take you hunting," Jasper said. "I have a feeling you'll take to this life like a pro; just like your daughter."


	11. Chapter 11

**This story is AU/OOC**

**Rated: M for coarse language**

**All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Chapter Ten**

_**Three years later...**_

Charlie did take to vampirism easily. In fact, he really didn't think being a vampire was that much different from being human. It took Sue and Billy a bit longer to become accustomed to this life, but they were happy to still be amongst the living. Sue and Charlie were mates in their new life which didn't surprise them at all because they had been so in love with each other in their human lives.

Billy found his mate in Nahuel's aunt Huilen. Bella thought they were a perfect match and Billy wasn't so stoic anymore now that he had use of his legs back. He frequently ran around the forest happily with his mate. He was so happy to be alive and was thankful everyday that Jacob thought to have him changed.

Jacob and Leah still lived in La Push. Jacob was now Chief of Quileute Nation while Leah was an Elder. With Sue and Billy as vampires, the pack had to rewrite the entire treaty. Billy, of course, oversaw the whole writing of the treaty. Carlisle Cullen, Edward, and his mate were, of course, eliminated from the treaty. Caius signed the treaty as supreme vampire ruler which trumped anything Carlisle said.

Speaking of Carlisle, he had just been captured and brought to the castle along with Joham Lobishomen. There were also two zombies on leashes brought in as well. He was brought forth to the throne room to face the Supreme Vampire Leader—Caius, along with his advisors Demetri, Jasper, Peter, Charlie, and Billy. Their mates stood behind them while the guard surrounded the prisoners.

"Carlisle Cullen and Joham Lobishomen, you knowingly created zombies and caused mass chaos throughout the human world. What say you to those charges?"

Carlise looked around the room in complete shock. He had heard that the Volturi had regrouped, but he wasn't expecting these faces. He answered the question soberly, "It was an accident, Sire. We were attempting to create a vaccine that would change vampires back to their human form. Sadly, the vaccine failed and those who tested it became ill."

"Ill, like Edward and his mate there?" Caius asked. "You and Joham Lobishomen have already been found guilty of your crimes against humanity—both vampire and human. Nahuel Lobishomen has apprised of all your wrong doings. In addition, Carlisle Cullen, you are charged with physical abuse of your former wife Esme. How do you plead?"

"I am innocent, Sire. She was my wife then. She refused to listen to me. Jane ordered that Edward choose between Isabella Swan and his mate Bree. Naturally he picked his mate Bree. Isabella Swan was supposed to die, but Esme interfered. For that, I apologize."

"It's a good thing Esme interfered; otherwise, I would be without my mate."

Carlisle opened his mouth to say something, but no words would come out. When Bella stepped out and took Caius' hand, he managed to say, "Bella, it's so good to see you."

"I'm happy to see you, too, Carlisle." She looked up at Felix. "Execute him." And thus, Carlisle Cullen's life came to a rather unspectacular end.


	12. Chapter 12

**This story is AU/OOC**

**Rated: M for coarse language**

**All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Epilogue**

_**Halloween Night**_

_**Salem, Massachusetts**_

_**Five years later...**_

"Really, Caius?" Bella questioned, completely aghast. "I am not going into the Zombie Apocalypse Haunted House."

"Why not?"

"Because I lived through one. Besides, it's in poor taste."

"They give us airsoft guns and we can pop off zombies. It'll be just like old times."

"Caius..."

"We can fall in love in the Zombie Apocalypse again." He kissed her on the lips then pouted. "Please?"

"Oh, alright." She couldn't resist him, especially when he begged so adorably.

Caius smiled. "Awesome."

Bella watched as her husband went to buy the tickets. She was happy. Extremely happy. After the zombie apocalypse, her life had done a 180. Her father was back in her life, she had a great stepmother, and all of her friends plus some new ones were all part of her happy existence. Esme, of course, was still her best friend; the two of them transformed the former media room into a romance novel library. All of the women in the castle loved the library and they frequently sat and discussed the novels they read during their book club meetings.

"Who are you supposed to be?" the guy taking tickets at the entrance asked. Of course, everyone was dressed up because it was Halloween.

"I'm a Scottish Laird in a kilt, of course, and this is my Lady."

"Awesome costumes, very realistic."

"Thanks." Caius whispered to Bella. "Of course, they're realistic, they're the real thing."

"I know, but I can't believe how tight these corsets are. How the hell did Heidi manage in these things?"

"Beats me. That woman is a slave to fashion."

"I know. I used to think Alice was a fashion nut, but she doesn't even wear high heels anymore. Actually, she's always in yoga pants and hoodies now."

"People change," Caius muttered. Ever since that night in Forks when he told Alice to have confidence in herself, she stopped wearing heels, opting for the dressed down look. Hell, even Bella was more fashion conscious than Alice was.

He glanced at his mate. She had made his life infinitely better. He was surrounded by friends in the castle with whom he frequently had fun with, he had gained a father-in-law who he could go to for advice, and a mother-in-law who doted over him. He realized that he missed all of that for three thousand years. Most importantly though, Caius had a mate and a wife who he loved to the moon and back, and who loved him back with everything she had in her.

He watched his mate shoot a zombie with her airsoft gun. She turned and smiled at him. "Caius, you're staring at me."

"That's because I'm completely and thoroughly besotted with you." Then he kissed her—again and again and again. And they lived happily ever after.

**This is the end of Besotted, my submission to FAGE Six Pack. I made some awesome new friends along the way and am grateful for the experience. **

**And now for some shout outs: Speklez, I had to lie to you about the prompt. I'm sorry, but it was a necessary precaution and you've probably guessed why by now. I hope you can forgive me. By the way, bikers and tattoos should have been a dead giveaway that I was fibbing because they just aren't my style. Thank you for all the pep talks and motivation along the way.**

**Ellie, Zombies? For real? Oh my God, I am such a non-horror person! I almost contemplated dropping out of FAGE, but I accepted the challenge for you, my dear-I hope you enjoyed the story. By the way, I had immense fun writing the story, even though the prompt was difficult.**

**To Supreme Fage Leader: Please note-no zombies for mama4dukes for next FAGE. I even had to watch World War Z-though seeing Brad Pitt in action wasn't a bad thing. He's kind of easy on the eyes.**

**LosT-in-Twific, Cloe Marrie, Artemis Leana, Speklez-your time spent WC'ing with me meant more to me than you'll ever know. Thank you for the friendship and motivation. **

**That's it folks! I hope you enjoyed 'Besotted.' Thanks for joining me.**


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